Gladiators

Gladiators

I researched the broad topic of Roman Gladiators. There is all sorts of evidence found by archaeologists that prove the existence of gladiators in Rome. One example of this is a surviving pamphlet, these were written on walls, that talks about the schedule of events for gladiatorial games on a certain day. It would say something like, “Twenty pairs of gladiators of Demicus Satrius Valens will fight from April 8-14. Fight with wild beast according to normal standard. Velarium will be used. (Hronis 1)." The Romans loved gladiatorial games. It was a big part of entertainment that thousands upon thousands of Romans enjoyed watching. Some Roman citizens even partook themselves and became gladiators.

There are of course no modern day gladiators. Gladiators were outlawed by Romans in 325 AD and in our current society are illegal. Gladiators do not exist in our current society because we see murder as morally wrong. The Romans however, thought that the gladiatorial games were fun and interesting to watch despite the fact that people, and animals, were being killed. Gladiatorial games evolved throughout the Roman empire. They started in 264 BC when Junuis Brutus' sons honored him at his funeral by making 3 slaves fight. Over time it evolved with a beast fighting, naval fights, and gladiator schools. 

There are many words in latin which pertain to gladiatorial games, one being ludi, which means public games. Another word is gladius which simply means sword. Two more words missum which means release and iugula which means kill, both are use in the games when the crowd helps decide whether or not the loser of the fight lives. Overall I learned some very interesting things about gladiators like the fact that there were different kinds, each with different weapons and armor. I also found it interesting that they fought all sorts of beasts, even giraffes. I was interested in what the life of a gladiator would be like so I made a creative writing piece from the point of view of a gladiator about his career as a gladiator which can be found here.





Sources:




"Gladiators." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.


Hronis, Anastasia. "Ancient Roman Gladiators: Legends of the Arena Anastasia Hronis Chronicles the Rise and Fall of History's Greatest Warriors." History Magazine. Moorshead Magazines Limited, Apr. 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.


Stilo, Aelius. "The Roman Gladiator." The Roman Gladiator. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2014.


Watkins, Richard. Gladiator. N.p.: Houghton Mufflin, 1997. Print.


Images:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Gladiators_from_the_Zliten_mosaic_3.JPG

http://wanderstories.com/wp-content/samples/book/Rome/Images/gladiator8_e.jpg